National Agricultural Statistics Service
Encyclopedia
The National Agricultural Statistics Service or NASS is the statistical
branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculturehttp://www.usda.gov. NASS has 46 field offices throughout the United States
and Puerto Rico
and a headquarters unit in Washington, D.C.
. NASS conducts hundreds of survey
s and issues nearly 500 national reports each year on issues including agricultural
production, economics
, demographics
and the environment
. NASS also conducts the Census of Agriculture
every five years.
The creation of USDA's Crop Reporting Board in 1905 (now called the Agricultural Statistics Board) was another landmark in the development of a nationwide statistical service for agriculture. A USDA reorganization in 1961 led to the creation of the Statistical Reporting Service
, known today as National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)http://www.nass.usda.gov.
The 1997 Appropriations Act http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+7USC2204g shifted the responsibility of conducting the Census of Agriculture
from U.S. Census Bureau to USDA. Since then the census has been conducted every five years by NASS. The latest census was released on February 4, 2009 http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/.
s, ranch
ers, livestock
feeders, slaughterhouse
managers, grain elevator
operators and other agribusiness
es. NASS relies on these survey respondents to voluntarily supply data for most reports.
NASS surveys are conducted in a variety of ways, including mail
surveys, telephone
interviews, online
response, face-to-face interviews and field observations. Once the information is gathered and interpreted, NASS issues estimates and forecasts for crops and livestock and publishes reports on a variety of topics including production and supplies of food and fiber, prices paid and received by farmers, farm labor and wage
s, farm income and finances, and agricultural chemical use. NASS’s field offices publish local data about many of the same topics.
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculturehttp://www.usda.gov. NASS has 46 field offices throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and a headquarters unit in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. NASS conducts hundreds of survey
Statistical survey
Survey methodology is the field that studies surveys, that is, the sample of individuals from a population with a view towards making statistical inferences about the population using the sample. Polls about public opinion, such as political beliefs, are reported in the news media in democracies....
s and issues nearly 500 national reports each year on issues including agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
production, economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, demographics
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...
and the environment
Environment (biophysical)
The biophysical environment is the combined modeling of the physical environment and the biological life forms within the environment, and includes all variables, parameters as well as conditions and modes inside the Earth's biosphere. The biophysical environment can be divided into two categories:...
. NASS also conducts the Census of Agriculture
Census of Agriculture
The Census of Agriculture is a census conducted every five years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service that provides the only source of uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every county in the United States.-Overview:The census is a complete count...
every five years.
History
During the Civil War, USDA collected and distributed crop and livestock statistics to help farmers assess the value of the goods they produced. At that time, commodity buyers usually had more current and detailed market information than did farmers, a circumstance that often prevented farmers from getting a fair price for their goods. Producers in today's marketplace would be similarly handicapped were it not for the information provided by NASS.The creation of USDA's Crop Reporting Board in 1905 (now called the Agricultural Statistics Board) was another landmark in the development of a nationwide statistical service for agriculture. A USDA reorganization in 1961 led to the creation of the Statistical Reporting Service
Statistical Reporting Service
Statistical Reporting Service was established by Secretary of Agriculture Memorandum 1446, supp. 1, part 3, of 1961. Consolidated with other departmental units into Economics, Statistics, and Cooperatives Service by Secretary's Memorandum 1927, effective December 23, 1977. Redesignated as...
, known today as National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)http://www.nass.usda.gov.
The 1997 Appropriations Act http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+7USC2204g shifted the responsibility of conducting the Census of Agriculture
Census of Agriculture
The Census of Agriculture is a census conducted every five years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service that provides the only source of uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every county in the United States.-Overview:The census is a complete count...
from U.S. Census Bureau to USDA. Since then the census has been conducted every five years by NASS. The latest census was released on February 4, 2009 http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/.
Surveys and reports
The primary sources of information for NASS reports are farmerFarmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
s, ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
ers, livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
feeders, slaughterhouse
Slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
managers, grain elevator
Grain elevator
A grain elevator is a tower containing a bucket elevator, which scoops up, elevates, and then uses gravity to deposit grain in a silo or other storage facility...
operators and other agribusiness
Agribusiness
In agriculture, agribusiness is a generic term for the various businesses involved in food production, including farming and contract farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales....
es. NASS relies on these survey respondents to voluntarily supply data for most reports.
NASS surveys are conducted in a variety of ways, including mail
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
surveys, telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
interviews, online
ONLINE
ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....
response, face-to-face interviews and field observations. Once the information is gathered and interpreted, NASS issues estimates and forecasts for crops and livestock and publishes reports on a variety of topics including production and supplies of food and fiber, prices paid and received by farmers, farm labor and wage
Wage
A wage is a compensation, usually financial, received by workers in exchange for their labor.Compensation in terms of wages is given to workers and compensation in terms of salary is given to employees...
s, farm income and finances, and agricultural chemical use. NASS’s field offices publish local data about many of the same topics.
Importance of NASS data
Producers, farm organizations, agribusinesses, lawmakers and government agencies all rely on the information produced by NASS. For instance:- Statistical information on acreage, production, stockStockThe capital stock of a business entity represents the original capital paid into or invested in the business by its founders. It serves as a security for the creditors of a business since it cannot be withdrawn to the detriment of the creditors...
s, prices and value is essential for the smooth operation of federal farm programs. - Agricultural data are indispensable for planning and administering related federal and state programs in such areas as consumer protectionConsumer protectionConsumer protection laws designed to ensure fair trade competition and the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace. The laws are designed to prevent businesses that engage in fraud or specified unfair practices from gaining an advantage over competitors and may provide additional...
, conservation and environmental qualityEnvironmental qualityEnvironmental quality is a set of properties and characteristics of the environment, either generalized or local, as they impinge on human beings and other organisms...
, tradeTradeTrade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
, educationEducationEducation in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
and recreationRecreationRecreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be "fun"...
. - NASS data helps to ensure an orderly flow of goods and services among agriculture’s producing, processing and marketing sectors.
- Reliable, timely and detailed crop and livestock statistics help to maintain a stable economic climate and minimize the uncertainties and risks associated with the production, marketing and distribution of commodities.
- Farmers and ranchers rely on NASS reports in making various production and marketing decisions, such as how much grain to plant, how much livestock to raise and when to buy or sell agricultural commodities.
- NASS estimates and forecasts are used by the transportation sector, warehouse and storage companies, banks and other lending institutions, commodity traders and food processors.
- The businesses that provide farmers with seeds, equipment, chemicals and other goods and services use the data when planning their marketing strategies.
- Analysts transform the statistics into projections of coming trends, interpretations of the trends’ economic implications and evaluations of alternative courses of action for producers, agribusinesses and policymakers.
See also
- Agricultural Resource Management SurveyAgricultural Resource Management SurveyThe Agricultural Resource Management Survey is the United States Department of Agriculture’s primary source of information on the financial condition, production practices, resource use, and economic well being of America’s farm households...
- Census of AgricultureCensus of AgricultureThe Census of Agriculture is a census conducted every five years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service that provides the only source of uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every county in the United States.-Overview:The census is a complete count...
- World Agricultural Supply and Demand EstimatesWorld Agricultural Supply and Demand EstimatesThe World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates is a monthly report published by the United States Department of Agriculture providing comprehensive forecasts of supply and demand for major global crops and U.S. livestock...